Hey guys! Thanks for the amount of reads on my Fairy Tail fics, it really means a lot to me, especially since the manga ended. I know many of you weren't satisfied with the ending but I've slowly accepted it and now I think it was a good ending. However, like many of you I wanted a kinda different Nalu ending so I wrote this Oneshot which takes place after the last chapter ^^

I hope you guys like it, this is actually my first time writing NaLu! (even though this ship made appearances in some of my other fics)

It had been several days since the group of mages set off on their 100 Year Quest. Normally such a quest wouldn't be available as they rarely appeared on the request board, but the recent peace that had been established between the continents of Alakitasia and Ishgar led to hundreds of new jobs for mages in all of Fiore. And so the 100 Year Quest took them all the way to Alvarez.

Lucy was laying down on top of her sheets and stared at the heavy, wooden ceiling. The only thing that kept her from being in the darkness was an oil lantern dangling from the ceiling that rocked along with the ship's movements.

This was their second night on the ship to Alvarez. This way of traveling wasn't new to her, but still, the thought of being on a ship all out on the open sea left her restless. She couldn't help thinking about the time she was kidnapped by Bora. If Natsu hadn't shown up... She didn't even want to think about the outcome.

A sudden knock on the door woke her from her thoughts.

''Come in'' she replied.

Judging from the softness of the knock it must've been Wendy. Maybe she was scared. All alone with a vast sleeping Erza. Erza was the greatest when it came to comforting people, but if she were deeply asleep like usual there was no way to wake her up.

Lucy sat straight up and made sure there was some space left next to her so Wendy could sit there She fluffed a pillow and placed it next to her. ''It's okay if you're scared to sleep here, I mean, at my first night— " Lucy stopped talking when she looked back at the door. In the door opening wasn't the tiny blue-haired girl, but the person she had expected the least.

''Natsu?!'' she said in bewilderment. He was only wearing a grey shirt over his white pants and as usual, the scaly scarf was loosely draped around his neck. ''What are you doing here? Is it so hard to let me stay alone in a room?'' She sighed.

''Nah, that's not it,'' he said in a somewhat letdown voice. ''There's something on my mind I need to ask you.''

''Something I need to ask you,'' the words echoed through her head. Panic struck her when her mind flashed back to the last time she heard him say those words years ago. She was sure he was going to confess to her back then. Lucy felt her heartbeat shift to her throat. There was no way this was happening after all, right? She wouldn't be able to answer, what was she supposed to do?

''T-That's fine, please sit down,'' she uneasily said.

He sat down at the side of her bed and folded his hands between the gap between his knees.

''Lucy...'' he said, still avoiding her gaze.

She was sure he could hear her heartbeat. Her lips felt dry and she almost forgot to breathe.

''... did I kill your mother?''

Lucy immediately felt her face cool down. Her heartbeat slowed until it was way below her normal rate. She could have sworn it had stopped for a second. ''What are you saying?'' she said so quietly it almost came out as a whisper.

''I'm the reason your mom died, ain't I?'' The dragonslayer said, now facing her directly. She could have sworn she saw the corners of his dark eyes watering.

''Of course not.,' Lucy answered in awe, still trying to deal with the 180-degree turn this conversation had taken. ''What makes you think that?''

''It took a while for me to figure it out,'' he said, now looking at the wall in front of him, ''the link between your mother's death and the mission she completed with Anna. But after adding up all Anna has told us and the things you told me about your mother's Magic Deficiency Disease it all made sense... She used up the last of her magic power to open the Eclipse gate for us.''

''I mean.. that's true, but you weren't the one who opened the gate, she chose that for herself.'' Lucy tried to soothe him.

It was no use. Her words failed to reach him and his emotions were really taking a wrong turn. His ignorance slowly grew into anger.

''And the fact we met in Hargeon all those years ago…that all must've been set up as well.'' His hands grasped the side of her bed, which started to smolder from his touch. ''I just needed to meet you just because you were Anna's only heir... We were just puppets in a plan!'' he spurted out.

Lucy jumped back, scared by his the sudden loudness in his voice. She had never seen him like this before. He wasn't the kind of person to share his personal feelings with others, especially not the ones close to him. This whole situation left her clueless on how to act. She had wished for him to be more serious every once in a while, but this was just too much.

''Luce...'' He looked straight at her with bloodshot eyes before turning his head away again. ''Is that what it is?'' he quietly said. Lucy could hear his voice trembling. ''Did you spend all those years with me just because of that?''

She couldn't take it anymore. He must have kept all these thoughts for himself for such a long time, he just had no sense of what the border between thoughts and reality were anymore. In a spur of the moment, she leaped forward, throwing her arms around his neck.

''That's enough Natsu!'' she cried into his scarf. ''None of that is true!''

She felt his muscles loosen beneath her being. The heat that had been emitting from his skin slowly started to cool down. For what seemed to be minutes they stayed like this, only the sound of Lucy's muted sobbing could be heard.

Natsu turned his head to the side the blonde mage was leaning on. ''Then tell me the truth.''

''Brandish's mother was the reason my mother died,'' Lucy said in a muffled voice. ''She was the owner of Aquarius' key and was out of reach to lend it to my mom to complete the zodiac keys and open the gate. My mom used the last of her energy to compensate for the lack of Aquarius' magical power.''

She released him from her grip and sat back. He turned around to face her. His facial expression had changed. No longer did frustration seem to tear him apart.

''She didn't have to die, but she choose to, for your sake and those of the other dragonslayers.'' Now she was the one facing away ''But mostly for my sake... If she wasn't able to open the gate I would have been the next in line...''

The look in his eyes indicated he had a hard time taking in all this new information.

''But what about our meeting?'' he asked.

''The fact that we met might not be entirely by accident,'' Lucy said in a calm voice. ''But I can tell you for sure my mom never told me about you.''

''So, it was just a coincidence?''

''A very lucky coincidence,'' Lucy said smiling as she wiped away a tear. ''I'd rather call it faith.''

''You mean…'' Natsu started, ''this is like, our destiny? How it's supposed to be?''

Lucy laughed. ''You said it yourself a few days ago; we'll be together forever.''

''I said that?'' he said in wonder.

She sighed, feeling somewhat uneased by just reciting his words that had made her realize how special he was to her. She leaned forward and cupped his face between her hands. Somewhat hesitant, she pressed her lips against his forehead.

She leaned back and looked into his eyes. ''Forever, okay?''

She couldn't help herself but laugh when she saw his face after her action. And while Lucy was lightheartedly laughing, deep inside was the fear of having done something stupid. What if he really took this the wrong way?

''Can I do that too?''

Completely baffled by this reaction she didn't know what to answer. Hesitantly, she nodded in agreement.

Gently, he put his hands on both her shoulders and slowly brought his head closer to hers. She awaited what was going to happen with her eyes closed.

Easy now, she told herself in silence. No need to panic, it's just on the forehead.

Soft, but steady, she felt his lips press against her own. As soon as she realized what was happening she opened her eyes.

''What are you doing?'' she asked, astonished as she jumped back. ''This isn't the same thing!''

''Whaddya mean?'' he said, obviously surprised. ''You kissed me too, right?''

''Yeah, but that was to thank you. Not to…You know...''

''To what?''

''Never mind.'' She sighed, hoping he wouldn't notice her blushing cheeks.

''Lucy, can I stay the night?'' he suddenly asked. ''I'm sure Happy will understand having to spend the night alone.''

Of course. Natsu had been spending a lot of nights with her one on one in her room, but the thing that just happened made it hard to calculate his intentions.

''Y-yeah sure, why not?'' she answered.

''Hell yeah!'' he exclaimed in excitement as he stood up and ran to the other side of the room. ''I'm calling dibs on the hammock!''

Lucy had to keep her jaw from dropping. What else could she have expected though? She shook her head.

''Can you turn the light off?''

''Sure!''

She opened the little door in the oil lamp and squeezed the tiny flame between her thumb and index finger.

''Goodnight Lucy.'' she heard him say from his hammock.

She gently let her index finger, still warm from the flame, run over her lower lip and smiled.

''Goodnight Natsu.''

Thanks missyplatinum for always revising my work, I can't wait till we'll finally meeting next week after being oversea friends for 3 years now 3 !